Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to provide an augmented reality head-up display device which is high in imaging quality, simple in structure and small in size.
In order to achieve the above purpose, the invention provides the technical scheme that the augmented reality head-up display device comprises an image unit, an optical waveguide unit and a reflecting unit, wherein the image unit is used for generating image light and guiding the image light to be incident on the surface of the optical waveguide unit, the optical waveguide unit conducts the image light and emits the image light towards the reflecting unit, the reflecting unit reflects the image light to human eyes and generates virtual images, the optical waveguide unit comprises an optical waveguide layer, a first shading layer and a second shading layer, the first shading layer is arranged on one side of the optical waveguide layer, the second shading layer is arranged on the other side of the optical waveguide layer, the first shading layer is used for absorbing light transmitted from the optical waveguide layer, and the second shading layer is used for absorbing light transmitted from the optical waveguide layer and/or reflected from the outside and sunlight transmitted from the outside.
Further, a gap is provided between the first light shielding layer and the second light shielding layer and the optical waveguide layer.
Further, the absorptivity of the first light shielding layer and the second light shielding layer to the visible light band is more than 60%.
Further, the optical waveguide layer includes at least one layer of optical waveguide.
Further, the optical waveguide surface is provided with a coupling-in region configured such that the incident image light is coupled into the optical waveguide and conducted along the optical waveguide to the coupling-out region, and a coupling-out region configured to eject the image light in the waveguide.
Further, the projection area of the first light shielding layer on the surface of the optical waveguide layer covers the projection area of the coupling-in area on the surface of the optical waveguide layer, and the projection area of the first light shielding layer on the surface of the optical waveguide layer and the projection area of the coupling-out area on the surface of the optical waveguide layer are arranged separately.
Further, the projection area of the second light shielding layer on the surface of the optical waveguide layer covers the projection area of the coupling-out area on the surface of the optical waveguide layer, and the projection area of the second light shielding layer on the surface of the optical waveguide layer and the projection area of the image unit on the surface of the optical waveguide layer are arranged separately.
Further, the in-coupling region and the out-coupling region are periodic grating structures.
Further, the optical waveguide layer comprises a first optical waveguide and a second optical waveguide, an adhesion layer is arranged between the first optical waveguide and the second optical waveguide, the first optical waveguide is used for modulating blue and green wave band light, and the second optical waveguide is used for green and red wave band light.
The invention also provides a vehicle comprising the augmented reality head-up display device.
The augmented reality head-up display device has the advantages that the first shading layer is arranged on one side of the optical waveguide layer to absorb light transmitted from the optical waveguide layer, the second shading layer is arranged on the other side of the optical waveguide layer to absorb light transmitted and/or reflected from the optical waveguide layer and sun rays transmitted from the outside, so that stray light interference is eliminated, the quality of reflecting image rays to human eyes and generating virtual images by the reflecting unit is improved, and the augmented reality head-up display device has the characteristics of large visual field, small volume and long virtual image distance, is simple in structure, is suitable for most windshields, and has high mass production universality.
The foregoing description is only an overview of the present invention, and is intended to provide a better understanding of the present invention, as it is embodied in the following description, with reference to the preferred embodiments of the present invention and the accompanying drawings.
Detailed Description
The following description of the embodiments of the present invention will be made apparent and fully in view of the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the invention are shown. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the invention without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the invention.
In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that the directions or positional relationships indicated by the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", etc. are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the drawings, are merely for convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the mechanisms or elements referred to must have a specific orientation, be configured and operated in a specific orientation, and thus should not be construed as limiting the present invention. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," and "third" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.
In addition, the technical features of the different embodiments of the present invention described below may be combined with each other as long as they do not collide with each other.
Referring to fig. 2, an augmented reality head-up display device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an image unit 1, an optical waveguide unit 2, and a reflection unit 3. The image unit 1 is used for generating image light, and guiding the image light to be incident on the surface of the optical waveguide unit 2. The optical waveguide unit 2 conducts the image light while increasing the exit pupil expansion, and emits toward the reflection unit 3. The image light emitted from the optical waveguide unit 2 is irradiated onto the reflection unit 3, and the reflection unit 3 reflects the image light irradiated thereon to the human eye and generates a virtual image.
The head-up display principle of the augmented reality head-up display device is that an image unit 1 emits image light rays with a certain view angle, the image light rays are incident into an optical waveguide unit 2, are emitted after being expanded through the exit pupil of the optical waveguide unit 2, the emitted image light rays are reflected to human eyes through a reflecting unit 3 at a certain reflection angle, and the human eyes can see virtual images with a certain projection distance through the reflecting unit 3.
The optical waveguide unit 2 includes an optical waveguide layer 21, a first light shielding layer 22 provided on one side of the optical waveguide layer 21 to absorb light transmitted from the optical waveguide layer 21, and a second light shielding layer 23 provided on the other side of the optical waveguide layer 21, the second light shielding layer 23 to absorb light transmitted and/or reflected from the optical waveguide layer 21 and solar light transmitted from the outside.
The first light shielding layer 22 and the second light shielding layer 23 have a gap with the optical waveguide layer 21, thereby absorbing light transmitted or reflected from the optical waveguide layer 21 and avoiding absorbing light in the optical waveguide layer 21. The specific gap is not particularly limited, and may be set according to actual needs.
The first light shielding layer 22 and the second light shielding layer 23 have an absorptivity of more than 60% in the visible light band, that is, the first light shielding layer 22 and the second light shielding layer 23 may be a structure having an absorptivity of more than 60% in the visible light band or a material having an absorptivity of more than 60% in the visible light band, and specific materials and structures are not specifically listed herein, and may be selected according to actual needs.
Referring to fig. 3, the optical waveguide layer 21 includes at least one optical waveguide 211, which may be one optical waveguide 211, two optical waveguides 211, or three optical waveguides 211, etc. The surface of the optical waveguide 211 is provided with an in-coupling region 212 and an out-coupling region 213, the in-coupling region 212 being configured such that incident image light is coupled into the optical waveguide 211 and conducted along the optical waveguide 211 to the out-coupling region 213, the out-coupling region 213 being configured to eject the image light in the optical waveguide 211. The image light passes through the coupling-in region 212, diffraction and total reflection occur inside the optical waveguide 211, the diffracted and total reflected image light passes through the optical waveguide 211 a plurality of times, and the image light spreads over the entire coupling-out region 213 and exits at the coupling-out region 213, thereby realizing exit pupil expansion. The light waveguide 211 can continuously transmit the coupled light in a specific direction under the condition of satisfying total reflection, the transmittance of the light waveguide 211 is more than 80%, and the light waveguide 211 can be glass, resin or a material with a transmittance under visible light of more than 80%, which is not illustrated herein. The thickness of the optical waveguide 211 is less than 2mm, and the specific thickness of the optical waveguide 211 is not particularly limited herein, and may be set according to actual needs.
The coupling-in region 212 and the coupling-out region 213 are structural units with diffraction characteristics, and are essentially nano-structures with refractive index gradient and capable of realizing light diffraction conduction, and specifically, the coupling-in region 212 and the coupling-out region 213 are periodic grating structures, such as nano-scale relief gratings or volume holographic gratings, and the periodic grating structures can be directly manufactured on the optical waveguide 211 or can be prefabricated on a film, and then the film with the grating structures is combined with the optical waveguide 211. The bottoms of the grating structures forming the coupling-in regions 212 and the coupling-out regions 213 may be located on the surface of the optical waveguide 211 or within the optical waveguide 211.
The in-coupling region 212 and the out-coupling region 213 may each be rectangular, wherein the in-coupling region 212 may also take a circular or other shape, as desired. The in-coupling region 212 and the out-coupling region 213 are arranged along the same axis on both sides of the same surface or on both sides of different surfaces of the optical waveguide 211, and in this embodiment, the in-coupling region 212 and the out-coupling region 213 are located on the same surface of the optical waveguide 211 with a space therebetween. The grating structure can be prepared by adopting holographic interference technology, photoetching technology or nano imprinting technology, and can be freely selected according to actual needs.
The coupling-in region 212 is preferably a tilted relief grating, and image light is incident at the position of the coupling-in region 212 and coupled into the optical waveguide 211 by a diffraction process. The obliquely arranged diffraction grating has selectivity to wavelength, avoids dispersion and has higher diffraction efficiency for a certain wave band. The period and orientation of the grating structure of the out-coupling region 213 is identical to the grating of the in-coupling region 212, which may be a positive grating or a tilted grating.
By designing parameters such as period, depth, duty ratio, inclination angle and the like of the grating structure, light with specific wavelength or wave band is efficiently selected, and the wavelength selectivity function is realized. For example, green image light is coupled, then bent and conducted in the waveguide, and blue and red image light is not acted, so that single-channel light diffraction is realized. Or the blue light and the red light are selected with high efficiency, so that the double-channel light diffraction is realized. The single-channel diffracted optical waveguide 211 only conducts image light of a certain color, and other image light of other colors passes through the optical waveguide 211, so that light rays are not interfered with each other.
In addition, the surface of the optical waveguide 211 may be provided with a turning region (not shown) for changing the propagation direction of the image light within the optical waveguide 211. When the image light is incident into the coupling-in region 212, the image light is totally reflected in the optical waveguide 211 to a turning region, and the turning region changes the propagation direction of the image light, so that the image light with changed direction is totally reflected to the coupling-out region 213, and the output image can be effectively pupil-expanded, thereby enlarging the viewing angle range and meeting the user requirements.
Referring to fig. 4 and 5, if the first light shielding layer 22 is not disposed on the light guiding unit 2, even though the image light transmitted in the light guiding layer 21 passes through the multiple light guiding layers 211, some image light still exits through the light guiding layers 211, especially, no matter whether the image light is vertically incident or obliquely incident to the coupling-in region 212, only some light is diffracted and then transmitted in the light guiding layers 211, and the 0 th order diffracted light exits through the light guiding layers 211. The image light is reflected or diffusely reflected by any surface with reflection characteristics, and the reflected or diffusely reflected light is incident into the optical waveguide 211 again, so that stray light is introduced, and imaging quality is affected. Referring to fig. 10, after the image light enters the optical waveguide 211 from the coupling-in region 212 in the visible light band, a portion of the light is transmitted from the other side of the optical waveguide 211 opposite to the coupling-in region 212. Wherein, as the wavelength of the image light increases, the reflection efficiency of the optical waveguide 211 for the image light gradually decreases, while the transmission efficiency gradually increases, and the absorption efficiency is always close to 0. The first light shielding layer 22 is disposed on the optical waveguide unit 2, so that the first light shielding layer 22 absorbs the image light emitted from the optical waveguide 211, thereby avoiding the incident of the image light into the optical waveguide 211 again after reflection or diffuse reflection, and improving the imaging quality.
The first light shielding layer 22 and the coupling-in region (not shown) are disposed on opposite sides of the optical waveguide 211, the projection region of the first light shielding layer 22 on the surface of the optical waveguide layer 21 covers the projection region of the coupling-in region on the surface of the optical waveguide layer 21, and the projection region of the first light shielding layer 22 on the surface of the optical waveguide layer 21 and the projection region of the coupling-out region (not shown) on the surface of the optical waveguide layer 21 are disposed apart, so as to absorb the light transmitted from the surface of the optical waveguide layer 21 to the maximum. That is, the maximum range covered by the projection region of the first light shielding layer 22 on the surface of the optical waveguide layer 21 is an area other than the projection region of the coupling-out region on the surface of the optical waveguide layer 21, and the minimum range is the projection region of the coupling-in region on the surface of the optical waveguide layer 21.
Referring to fig. 6 and 7, if the second light shielding layer 23 is not disposed on the optical waveguide unit 2, even after passing through the multiple optical waveguides 211, the image light transmitted in the optical waveguide layer 21 transmits light on one side of the coupling-out region 213 opposite to the reflecting unit 3, and the external solar light enters the optical waveguide 211 through the reflecting unit 3 and then transmits light from one side of the coupling-out region 213 opposite to the reflecting unit 3, and when the image light enters the optical waveguide 211, part of the light is reflected by the surface of the optical waveguide 211, and the reflected or diffusely reflected light is incident into the optical waveguide 211 again, thereby introducing stray light and affecting the imaging quality. And the optical waveguide unit 2 is provided with the second light shielding layer 23, the second light shielding layer 23 absorbs the light rays, so that the light rays are prevented from being incident into the optical waveguide 211 again after being reflected or diffusely reflected, and the imaging quality is improved.
The second light shielding layer 23 and the coupling-out region (not shown) are disposed on both sides of the optical waveguide 211, the projection region of the second light shielding layer 23 on the surface of the optical waveguide layer 21 covers the projection region of the coupling-out region on the surface of the optical waveguide layer 21, and the projection region of the second light shielding layer 23 on the surface of the optical waveguide layer 21 and the projection region of the image unit 1 on the surface of the optical waveguide layer 21 are disposed apart, thereby maximally absorbing the light transmitted or/and reflected from the surface of the optical waveguide layer 21. That is, the maximum range covered by the projection area of the second light shielding layer 23 on the surface of the optical waveguide layer 21 is an area other than the projection area of the image unit 1 on the surface of the optical waveguide layer 21, and the minimum range is the projection area of the coupling-out area on the surface of the optical waveguide layer 21.
By setting the dimensions of the grating structures of the coupling-in region 212 and the coupling-out region 213, the distance between them, the specific structure of the grating, the thickness dimension of the optical waveguide 211, and the positions and dimensions of the first light shielding layer 22 and the second light shielding layer 23, it is possible to achieve diffraction coupling-in of image light through the coupling-in region 212, diffraction of light through the optical waveguide 211 and transmission to the coupling-out region 213, whereas light transmitted and reflected from the surface of the optical waveguide 211 is absorbed by the first light shielding layer 22 or the second light shielding layer 23, and emitted from the coupling-out region 213 and irradiated to the reflection unit 3, the light is reflected by the reflection unit 3 to human eyes, forming a virtual image of an image in front of human eyes.
Referring to fig. 8, the optical waveguide layer 21 includes a monolithic optical waveguide 211, a coupling-in area 212 and a coupling-out area 213 are disposed on a surface of the optical waveguide 211, the monolithic optical waveguide 211 is a color optical waveguide lens for implementing color augmented reality display, and the light rays of images including red, green and blue are incident on the monolithic optical waveguide 211, and the light rays of images of each color are diffracted and bent by the coupling-in area 212, and are emitted by the coupling-out area 213, and the light rays are emitted and combined by the color optical waveguide lens, thereby implementing color augmented reality display.
Referring to fig. 9, the optical waveguide layer 21 includes a dual-sheet dual-channel optical waveguide, specifically, a first optical waveguide 214 and a second optical waveguide 215, an adhesion layer 216 is disposed between the first optical waveguide 214 and the second optical waveguide 215, the first optical waveguide 214 is used for modulating blue and green band light, and the second optical waveguide 215 is used for green and red band light. Through combining two binary channels optical waveguide, realize red green blue three-colour light modulation, reach colored augmented reality display effect.
Referring to fig. 2, the optical waveguide layer 21 includes three optical waveguides 211, and the three optical waveguides 211 respectively regulate one of the three colors of red, green and blue, and regulate different colors to realize modulation of red, green and blue light, thereby achieving a color augmented reality display effect. The specific number of the optical waveguides 211 and the color to be controlled are not particularly limited, and may be set according to actual needs, and are not specifically described herein.
The invention also provides a vehicle comprising the augmented reality head-up display device as shown above, forming a virtual image in front of a windscreen. The vehicle may be a riding vehicle, an electric vehicle, or the like, for example, a pure electric vehicle, an extended range electric vehicle, a hybrid electric vehicle, a fuel cell vehicle, a new energy vehicle, or the like, and is not particularly limited.
In summary, according to the augmented reality head-up display device disclosed by the invention, the first shading layer is arranged on one side of the optical waveguide layer to absorb the light transmitted from the optical waveguide layer, and the second shading layer is arranged on the other side of the optical waveguide layer to absorb the light transmitted and/or reflected from the optical waveguide layer and the solar light transmitted from the outside, so that the parasitic light interference is eliminated, the quality of reflecting the image light to human eyes and generating virtual images by the reflecting unit is improved, and the augmented reality head-up display device has the characteristics of large field of view, small volume and long virtual image distance, is simple in structure, is suitable for most windshields, and has high mass production universality.
The technical features of the above-described embodiments may be arbitrarily combined, and all possible combinations of the technical features in the above-described embodiments are not described for brevity of description, however, as long as there is no contradiction between the combinations of the technical features, they should be considered as the scope of the description.
The above examples illustrate only a few embodiments of the invention, which are described in detail and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. It should be noted that it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that several variations and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, which are all within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of protection of the present invention is to be determined by the appended claims.